Why You Should Recycle Used Motor Oil

April 17, 2013

You may get frequent oil changes and maybe know how to check your oil, but do you know what to do with your used motor oil when you change it yourself? Or that Jiffy Lube will take it and recycle it for you? This service exists because it is the right thing to do for the environment. Oil is both harmful to the environment and a great resource to be reused, see why below.

It’s harmful to the environment

Whether it’s from a car, motorcycle, boat or lawnmower, where used motor oil goes is an important factor in the quality of our water and our environment. Even though oil originally comes from wells in the ground and the ocean floor, motor oil does not belong on our lands or in our waters. A release of used oil to the environment threatens ground and surface waters with oil contamination and pollution. It doesn’t take much for oil to completely contaminate water, in fact, just 1 gallon of used motor oil can contaminate 1 million gallons of fresh water. If used oil is disposed of in an irresponsible manner it may potentially endanger aquatic organisms and human resources like our drinking water supply.

It’s a valuable resource

Far too much motor oil is wasted every year when it could be reused. Oil doesn't become a useless product when you’re done with it, it just gets dirty and the chemical properties break down so it is ready to be used in a different way. By having your used motor oil recycled, you give it a chance to be transformed into new products, burned for heat or the production of asphalt or used in power plants to generate electricity. Burning just two gallons of used oil in a power plant can generate enough electricity to run an average household for 24 hours.

At Jiffy Lube, we recycle used motor oil because being “green” is the right thing to do. Last year we recycled over 42,000 gallons of used motor oil. If you choose to change your own oil in any of your gas powered engines, you can drop that used oil off at any Fargo Jiffy Lube to be recycled. This service is at no charge to you and can be done during our business hours. We will accept any used motor oil as long as it’s not mixed with other fluids and you can bring in up to 5 gallons at a time.